MS Excel 2010 Step by step

Modifying Workbooks   9

SET UP  You need the ExceptionTracking_start workbook located in your Chapter01
practice file folder to complete this exercise. Open the ExceptionTracking_start file,
and save it as ExceptionTracking. Then follow the steps.

1. On the tab bar, click the Insert Worksheet button.

A new worksheet is displayed.

2. Right-click the new worksheet’s sheet tab, and then click Rename.

Excel highlights the new worksheet’s name.

3. Type 2010, and then press Enter.
4. On the tab bar, double-click the Sheet1 sheet tab.

Excel highlights the worksheet’s name.

5. Type 2009, and then press Enter.
6. Right-click the 2009 sheet tab, point to Tab Color, and then, in the Standard

Colors area of the color palette, click the green square.
Excel changes the 2009 sheet tab to green.

7. On the tab bar, drag the 2010 sheet tab to the left of the Scratch Pad sheet tab.
8. Right-click the 2010 sheet tab, and then click Hide.

Excel hides the 2010 worksheet.

9. Right-click the 2009 sheet tab, and then click Move or Copy.

The Move Or Copy dialog box opens.

10. Click the To book arrow, and then in the list, click (new book).
11. Select the Create a copy check box.

10    Chapter 1  Setting Up a Workbook

12. Click OK.

A new workbook opens, containing only the worksheet you copied into it.

13. On the Quick Access Toolbar, click Save.

The Save As dialog box opens.

14. In the File name field, type 2009 Archive, and then press Enter.

Excel saves the workbook, and the Save As dialog box closes.

15. On the View tab, click the Switch Windows button, and then click

ExceptionTracking.
The ExceptionTracking workbook is displayed.

16. On the tab bar, right-click the Scratch Pad sheet tab, and then click Delete.

In the dialog box that opens, click Delete to confirm the operation.
The Scratch Pad worksheet is deleted.

17. Right-click the 2009 sheet tab, and then click Unhide.

The Unhide dialog box opens.

18. Click 2010, and then click OK.

The Unhide dialog box closes, and the 2010 worksheet is displayed in the
workbook.
CLEAN UP  Save and close the ExceptionTracking workbook and the 2009 Archive
workbook.

Modifying Worksheets   11

Modifying Worksheets

After you put up the signposts that make your data easy to find, you can take other
steps to make the data in your workbooks easier to work with. For example, you can
change the width of a column or the height of a row in a worksheet by dragging the
column’s right border or the row’s bottom border to the desired position. Increasing
a column’s width or a row’s height increases the space between cell contents, making
your data easier to read and work with.

Tip  You can apply the same change to more than one row or column by selecting the rows
or columns you want to change and then dragging the border of one of the selected rows or
columns to the desired location. When you release the mouse button, all the selected rows
or columns change to the new height or width.

Modifying column width and row height can make a workbook’s contents easier to work
with, but you can also insert a row or column between cells that contain data to make
your data easier to read. Adding space between the edge of a worksheet and cells that
contain data, or perhaps between a label and the data to which it refers, makes the work-
book’s contents less crowded. You insert rows by clicking a cell and clicking the Home
tab on the ribbon. Then, in the Cells group, in the Insert list, click Insert Sheet Rows. Excel
inserts a row above the row that contains the active cell. You insert a column in much the
same way, by choosing Insert Sheet Columns from the Insert list. When you do this, Excel
inserts a column to the left of the active cell.

When you insert a row, column, or cell in a worksheet that has had formatting applied,
the Insert Options button appears. Clicking the Insert Options button displays a list of
choices you can make about how the inserted row or column should be formatted. The
following table summarizes your options.

Option Action
Format Same As Above
Format Same As Below Applies the formatting of the row above the inserted row to the
Format Same As Left new row
Format Same As Right
Clear Formatting Applies the formatting of the row below the inserted row to the
new row

Applies the formatting of the column to the left of the inserted
column to the new column

Applies the formatting of the column to the right of the inserted
column to the new column

Applies the default format to the new row or column

12    Chapter 1  Setting Up a Workbook

If you want to delete a row or column, right-click the row or column head and then, on
the shortcut menu that appears, click Delete. You can temporarily hide rows or columns
by selecting those rows or columns and then, on the Home tab, in the Cells group, clicking
the Format button, pointing to Hide & Unhide, and then clicking either Hide Rows or Hide
Columns. The rows or columns you selected disappear, but they aren’t gone for good, as
they would be if you’d used Delete. Instead, they have just been removed from the display
until you call them back. To return the hidden rows to the display, select the row or column
headers on either side of the hidden rows or columns. Then, on the Home tab, in the Cells
group, click the Format button, point to Hide & Unhide, and then click either Unhide Rows
or Unhide Columns.

Important  If you hide the first row or column in a worksheet, you must click the Select All
button in the upper-left corner of the worksheet (above the first row header and to the left
of the first column header) or press Ctrl+A to select the entire worksheet. Then, on the Home
tab, in the Cells group, click Format, point to Hide & Unhide, and then click either Unhide
Rows or Unhide Columns to make the hidden data visible again.

Just as you can insert rows or columns, you can insert individual cells into a worksheet. To
insert a cell, click the cell that is currently in the position where you want the new cell to
appear. On the Home tab, in the Cells group, in the Insert list, click Insert Cells to display
the Insert dialog box. In the Insert dialog box, you can choose whether to shift the cells
surrounding the inserted cell down (if your data is arranged as a column) or to the right (if
your data is arranged as a row). When you click OK, the new cell appears, and the contents
of affected cells shift down or to the right, as appropriate. In a similar vein, if you want
to delete a block of cells, select the cells, and on the Home tab, in the Cells group, in the
Delete list, click Delete Cells to display the Delete dialog box—complete with options that
enable you to choose how to shift the position of the cells around the deleted cells.

Tip  The Insert dialog box also includes options you can click to insert a new row or column;
the Delete dialog box has similar options for deleting an entire row or column.

If you want to move the data in a group of cells to another location in your worksheet,
select the cells you want to move and use the mouse pointer to point to the selection’s
border. When the pointer changes to a four-pointed arrow, you can drag the selected cells
to the desired location on the worksheet. If the destination cells contain data, Excel displays
a dialog box asking whether you want to overwrite the destination cells’ contents. If you
want to replace the existing values, click OK. If you don’t want to overwrite the existing
values, click Cancel and insert the required number of cells to accommodate the data
you want to move.

In this exercise, you’ll insert a column and row into a worksheet, specify insert options,
hide a column, insert a cell into a worksheet, delete a cell from a worksheet, and move a
group of cells within the worksheet.

Modifying Worksheets   13

SET UP  You need the RouteVolume_start workbook located in your Chapter01
practice file folder to complete this exercise. Open the RouteVolume_start workbook,
and save it as RouteVolume. Then follow the steps.

1. On the May 12 worksheet, select cell A1.
2. On the Home tab, in the Cells group, click the Insert arrow, and then in the list,

click Insert Sheet Columns.
A new column A appears.

3. In the Insert list, click Insert Sheet Rows.

A new row 1 appears.

4. Click the Insert Options button that appears below the lower-right corner of the

selected cell, and then click Clear Formatting.
Excel removes the formatting from the new row 1.

5. Right-click the column header of column E, and then click Hide.

Column E disappears.

14    Chapter 1  Setting Up a Workbook

6. On the tab bar, click the May 13 sheet tab.

The worksheet named May 13 appears.

7. Click cell B6.
8. On the Home tab, in the Cells group, click the Delete arrow, and then in the list,

click Delete Cells.
The Delete dialog box opens.

9. If necessary, click Shift cells up, and then click OK.

The Delete dialog box closes and Excel deletes cell B6, moving the cells below it up
to fill in the gap.

10. Click cell C6.
11. In the Cells group, in the Insert list, click Insert Cells.

The Insert dialog box opens.

12. If necessary, click Shift cells down, and then click OK.

The Insert dialog box closes, and Excel creates a new cell C6, moving cells C6:C11
down to accommodate the inserted cell.

13. In cell C6, type 4499, and then press Enter.
14. Select cells E13:F13.
15. Point to the border of the selected cells. When your mouse pointer changes to a

four-pointed arrow, drag the selected cells to cells B13:C13.
The dragged cells replace cells B13:C13.

Customizing the Excel 2010 Program Window   15

CLEAN UP  Save the RouteVolume workbook, and then close it.

Customizing the Excel 2010 Program Window

How you use Excel 2010 depends on your personal working style and the type of data
collections you manage. The Excel product team interviews customers, observes how
differing organizations use the program, and sets up the user interface so that many
users won’t need to change it to work effectively. If you do want to change the Excel
program window, including the user interface, you can. You can change how Excel dis-
plays your worksheets; zoom in on worksheet data; add frequently used commands
to the Quick Access Toolbar; hide, display, and reorder ribbon tabs; and create custom
tabs to make groups of commands readily accessible.

16    Chapter 1  Setting Up a Workbook

Zooming In on a Worksheet

One way to make Excel easier to work with is to change the program’s zoom level. Just
as you can “zoom in” with a camera to increase the size of an object in the camera’s
viewer, you can use the zoom setting to change the size of objects within the Excel 2010
program window. For example, if Peter Villadsen, the Consolidated Messenger European
Distribution Center Manager, displayed a worksheet that summarized his distribution
center’s package volume by month, he could click the View tab and then, in the Zoom
group, click the Zoom button to display the Zoom dialog box. The Zoom dialog box
contains controls that he can use to select a preset magnification level or to type in
a custom magnification level. He could also use the Zoom control in the lower-right
corner of the Excel 2010 window.

Zoom Out

Zoom In

Clicking the Zoom In control increases the size of items in the program window by
10 percent, whereas clicking the Zoom Out control decreases the size of items in the
program window by 10 percent. If you want more fine-grained control of your zoom
level, you can use the slider control to select a specific zoom level or click the magnifi-
cation level indicator, which indicates the zoom percentage, and use the Zoom dialog
box to set a custom magnification level.
The Zoom group on the View tab also contains the Zoom To Selection button, which
fills the program window with the contents of any selected cells, up to the program’s
maximum zoom level of 400 percent.
Tip  The minimum zoom level in Excel 2010 is 10 percent.

Customizing the Excel 2010 Program Window   17

Arranging Multiple Workbook Windows

As you work with Excel, you will probably need to have more than one workbook open
at a time. For example, you could open a workbook that contains customer contact
information and copy it into another workbook to be used as the source data for a mass
mailing you create in Microsoft Word 2010. When you have multiple workbooks open
simultaneously, you can switch between them by clicking the View tab and then, in the
Window group, clicking the Switch Windows button and clicking the name of the work-
book you want to view.
You can arrange your workbooks within the Excel window so that most of the active
workbook is shown but the others are easily accessible. To do so, click the View tab and
then, in the Window group, click the Arrange All button. Then, in the Arrange Windows
dialog box, click Cascade.

Many Excel 2010 workbooks contain formulas on one worksheet that derive their value
from data on another worksheet, which means you need to change between two work-
sheets every time you want to see how modifying your data changes the formula’s result.
However, an easier way to approach this is to display two copies of the same workbook
simultaneously, displaying the worksheet that contains the data in the original window
and displaying the worksheet with the formula in the new window. When you change
the data in either copy of the workbook, Excel updates the other copy. To display two
copies of the same workbook, open the desired workbook and then, in the View tab’s
Window group, click New Window. Excel opens a second copy of the workbook. To display
the workbooks side by side, on the View tab, in the Window group, click Arrange All.
Then, in the Arrange Windows dialog box, click Vertical and then click OK.
If the original workbook’s name is Exception Summary, Excel 2010 displays the name
Exception Summary:1 on the original workbook’s title bar and Exception Summary:2
on the second workbook’s title bar.

18    Chapter 1  Setting Up a Workbook

Troubleshooting  The appearance of buttons and groups on the ribbon changes depending on
the width of the program window. For information about changing the appearance of the ribbon
to match our images, see “Modifying the Display of the Ribbon” at the beginning of this book.

Adding Buttons to the Quick Access Toolbar

As you continue to work with Excel 2010, you might discover that you use certain com-
mands much more frequently than others. If your workbooks draw data from external
sources, for example, you might find yourself displaying the Data tab and then, in the
Connections group, clicking the Refresh All button much more often than the program’s
designers might have expected. You can make any button accessible with one click by
adding the button to the Quick Access Toolbar, located just above the ribbon in the
upper-left corner of the Excel program window.
To add a button to the Quick Access Toolbar, click the File tab, and then click Options. In
the Excel Options dialog box, display the Customize The Quick Access Toolbar page. This
Options page contains two panes. The pane on the left lists all of the controls that are
available within a given category, and the pane on the right lists the controls currently
displayed on the Quick Access Toolbar. To add a command to the Quick Access Toolbar,
display the Customize The Quick Access Toolbar page of the Options dialog box. Then,
in the Choose Commands From list, click the category that contains the control you

Customizing the Excel 2010 Program Window   19

want to add. Excel 2010 displays the available commands in the box below the Choose
Commands From field. Click the control you want, and then click the Add button.

You can change a button’s position on the Quick Access Toolbar by clicking its name
in the right pane and then clicking either the Move Up or Move Down button at the
right edge of the dialog box. To remove a button from the Quick Access Toolbar, click
the button’s name in the right pane, and then click the Remove button. When you’re
done making your changes, click the OK button. If you prefer not to save your changes,
click the Cancel button. If you saved your changes but want to return the Quick Access
Toolbar to its original state, click the Reset button and then click either Reset Only Quick
Access Toolbar, which removes any changes you made to the Quick Access Toolbar, or
Reset All Customizations, which returns the entire ribbon interface to its original state.
You can also choose whether your Quick Access Toolbar changes affect all your work-
books or just the active workbook. To control how Excel applies your change, in the
Customize Quick Access Toolbar list, click either For All Documents to apply the change to
all of your workbooks or For Workbook to apply the change to the active workbook only.
If you’d like to export your Quick Access Toolbar customizations to a file that can be
used to apply those changes to another Excel 2010 installation, click the Import/Export
button and then click Export All Customizations. Use the controls in the dialog box that
opens to save your file. When you’re ready to apply saved customizations to Excel, click
the Import/Export button, click Import Customization File, select the file in the File Open
dialog box, and click Open.

20    Chapter 1  Setting Up a Workbook

Customizing the Ribbon

Excel 2010 enhances your ability to customize the entire ribbon by enabling you to hide and
display ribbon tabs, reorder tabs displayed on the ribbon, customize existing tabs (including
tool tabs, which appear when specific items are selected), and to create custom tabs.
To begin customizing the ribbon, click the File tab and then click Options. In the Excel
Options dialog box, click Customize Ribbon to display the Customize The Ribbon page.

To select which tabs appear in the tabs pane on the right side of the screen, click the
Customize The Ribbon field’s arrow and then click either Main Tabs, which displays the
tabs that can appear on the standard ribbon; Tool Tabs, which displays the tabs that
appear when you click an item such as a drawing object or PivotTable; or All Tabs.
Tip  The procedures taught in this section apply to both the main tabs and the tool tabs.
Each ribbon tab’s name has a check box next to it. If a tab’s box is selected, then that tab
appears on the ribbon. You can hide a tab by clearing the check box and bring it back by
selecting the check box. You can also change the order in which the tabs are displayed
on the ribbon. To do so, click the name of the tab you want to move and then click the
Move Up or Move Down arrows to reposition the selected tab.

Customizing the Excel 2010 Program Window   21

Just as you can change the order of the tabs on the ribbon, with Excel 2010, you can change
the order in which groups of commands appear on a tab. For example, the Page Layout tab
contains five groups: Themes, Page Setup, Scale To Fit, Sheet Options, and Arrange. If you
use the Themes group less frequently than the other groups, you could move the group to
the right end of the tab by clicking the group’s name and then clicking the Move Down
arrow button until the group appears in the desired position.

To remove a group from a built-in ribbon tab, click the name of the group in the right
pane and click the Remove button. If you remove a group from a built-in tab and later
decide you want to put it back on the tab, display the tab in the right pane. Then, click the
Choose Commands From field’s arrow and click Main Tabs. With the tab displayed, in the left
pane, click the expand control (which looks like a plus sign) next to the name of the tab that
contains the group you want to add back. You can now click the name of the group in the
left pane and click the Add button to put the group back on the selected ribbon tab.
The built-in ribbon tabs are designed efficiently, so adding new command groups might
crowd the other items on the tab and make those controls harder to find. Rather than
adding controls to an existing ribbon tab, you can create a custom tab and then add
groups and commands to it. To create a custom ribbon tab, click the New Tab button
on the Customize The Ribbon page of the Excel Options dialog box. When you do,
a new tab named New Tab (Custom), which contains a group named New Group
(Custom), appears in the tab list.

22    Chapter 1  Setting Up a Workbook

You can add an existing group to your new ribbon tab by clicking the Choose Commands
From field’s arrow, selecting a collection of commands, clicking the group you want to
add, and then clicking the Add button. You can also add individual commands to your
ribbon tab by clicking a command in the command list and clicking the Add button. To
add a command to your tab’s custom group, click the new group in the right tab list,
click the command in the left list, and then click the Add button. If you want to add
another custom group to your new tab, click the new tab, or any of the groups within
that tab, and then click New Group.
Tip  You can change the order of the groups and commands on your custom ribbon tabs by
using the techniques described earlier in this section.
The New Tab (Custom) name doesn’t tell you anything about the commands on your new
ribbon tab, so you can rename it to reflect its contents. To rename any tab on the ribbon,
display the Customize The Ribbon page of the Excel Options dialog box, click the tab
you want to modify, and then click the Rename button. Type the tab’s new name in the
Rename dialog box, and click OK. To rename any group on the ribbon, click the name of
the group, and then click Rename. When you do, a different version of the Rename dialog
box appears. Click the symbol that you want to use to represent the group on the ribbon,
type a new name for the group in the Display Name box, and click OK.

If you’d like to export your ribbon customizations to a file that can be used to apply those
changes to another Excel 2010 installation, click the Import/Export button and then click
Export All Customizations. Use the controls in the dialog box that opens to save your file.
When you’re ready to apply saved customizations to Excel, click the Import/Export button,
click Import Customization File, select the file in the File Open dialog box, and click Open.

Customizing the Excel 2010 Program Window   23

When you’re done customizing the ribbon, click the OK button to save your changes
or click Cancel to keep the user interface as it was before you started this round of
changes. You can also change a ribbon tab, or the entire ribbon, back to the state it
was in when you installed Excel. To restore a single ribbon tab, click the tab you want
to restore, click the Reset button, and then click Reset Only Selected Ribbon Tab. To
restore the entire ribbon, including the Quick Access Toolbar, click the Reset button
and then click Reset All Customizations.

Maximizing Usable Space in the Program Window

You can increase the amount of space available inside the program window by hiding
the ribbon, the formula bar, or the row and column labels.

To hide the ribbon, double-click the active tab label. The tab labels remain visible at the top
of the program window, but the tab content is hidden. To temporarily redisplay the ribbon,
click the tab label you want. Then click any button on the tab, or click away from the tab, to
rehide it. To permanently redisplay the ribbon, double-click any tab label.

Keyboard Shortcut  Press Ctrl+F1 to hide and unhide the ribbon.

To hide the formula bar, clear the Formula Bar check box in the Show/Hide group on
the View tab. To hide the row and column labels, clear the Headings check box in the
Show/Hide group on the View tab.

In this exercise, you’ll change your worksheet’s zoom level, zoom in to emphasize a
selected cell range, switch between multiple open workbooks, cascade multiple open
workbooks within the Excel program window, add a button to the Quick Access Toolbar,
and customize the ribbon.

SET UP  You need the PackageCounts_start and MisroutedPackages_start workbooks
located in your Chapter01 practice file folder to complete this exercise. Open the
PackageCounts_start and MisroutedPackages_start workbooks, and name them as
PackageCounts and MisroutedPackages, respectively. Then follow the steps.

1. In the MisroutedPackages workbook, in the lower-right corner of the Excel 2010

window, click the Zoom In control five times.
The worksheet’s zoom level changes to 150%.

2. Select cells B2:C11.
3. On the View tab, in the Zoom group, click the Zoom to Selection button.

Excel displays the selected cells so they fill the program window.

24    Chapter 1  Setting Up a Workbook

4. On the View tab, in the Zoom group, click the Zoom button.

The Zoom dialog box opens.

5. Click 100%, and then click OK.

The worksheet returns to its default zoom level.

6. On the View tab, in the Window group, click the Switch Windows button, and

then click PackageCounts.
The PackageCounts workbook opens.

Customizing the Excel 2010 Program Window   25

7. On the View tab, in the Window group, click the Arrange All button.

The Arrange Windows dialog box opens.

8. Click Cascade, and then click OK.

Excel cascades the open workbook windows within the program window.

9. Click the File tab, and then click Options.

The Excel Options dialog box opens.

10. Click Quick Access Toolbar.

The Customize The Quick Access Toolbar page opens.

11. Click the Choose commands from arrow, and then in the list, click Review Tab.

The commands in the Review Tab category appear in the command list.

12. Click the Spelling command, and then click Add.

Excel adds the Spelling command to the Quick Access Toolbar.

26    Chapter 1  Setting Up a Workbook

13. Click Customize Ribbon.

The Customize The Ribbon page of the Excel Options dialog box appears.

14. If necessary, click the Customize the Ribbon box’s arrow and click Main Tabs. In the

right tab list, click the Review tab and then click the Move Up button three times.
Excel moves the Review tab between the Insert and Page Layout tabs.

15. Click the New Tab button.

A tab named New Tab (Custom) appears below the most recently active tab in the
Main Tabs list.

16. Click the New Tab (Custom) tab name, click the Rename button, type My

Commands in the Display Name box, and click OK.
The new tab’s name changes to My Commands.

17. Click the New Group (Custom) group’s name and then click the Rename button.

In the Rename dialog box, click the icon that looks like a paint palette (second
row, fourth from the right). Then, in the Display name box, type Formatting,
and click OK.
The new group’s name changes to Formatting.

18. In the right tab list, click the My Commands tab name. Then, on the left side of the

dialog box, click the Choose Commands From box’s arrow and click Main Tabs.
The Main Tabs group of ribbon tabs appears in the left tab list.

Key Points   27

19. In the left tab list, click the Home tab’s expand control, click the Styles group’s

name, and then click the Add button.
The Styles group is added to the My Commands tab.

20. In the left tab list, under the Home tab, click the Number group’s expand control.

The commands in the Number group appear.

21. In the right tab list, click the Formatting group you created earlier. Then, in the left

tab list, click the Number Format item and click the Add button.
Excel 2010 adds the Number Format item to the Formatting custom group.

22. Click OK to save your ribbon customizations, and then click the My Commands

tab on the ribbon.

Important  The remaining exercises in this book assume you are using Excel 2010 as it
was installed on your computer. After you complete this exercise, you should reset the
ribbon to its original configuration so the instructions in the remaining exercises in the
book are consistent with your copy of Excel.
CLEAN UP  Save and close all open workbooks. If you are not continuing directly to
the next chapter, exit Excel.

Key Points

● Save your work whenever you do something you’d hate to have to do again.
● Assigning values to a workbook’s properties makes it easier to find your workbook

using the Windows search facility.
● Be sure to give your worksheets descriptive names.
● If you want to use a worksheet’s data in another workbook, you can send a copy of

the worksheet to that other workbook without deleting the original worksheet.
● You can delete a worksheet you no longer need, but you can also hide a worksheet

in the workbook. When you need the data on the worksheet, you can unhide it.
● You can save yourself a lot of bothersome cutting and pasting by inserting and

deleting worksheet cells, columns, and rows.
● Customize your Excel 2010 program window by changing how it displays your

workbooks, zooming in on data, adding frequently used buttons to the Quick
Access Toolbar, and rearranging or customizing the ribbon to meet your needs.

Chapter at a Glance

Enter and Find and replace
revise data, data, page 38

page 30
Move data within

a workbook, page 34

Correct and expand upon
worksheet data, page 43

Define Excel
tables, page 48

2 Working with Data
and Excel Tables


In this chapter, you will learn how to
✔ Enter and revise data.
✔ Move data within a workbook.
✔ Find and replace data.
✔ Correct and expand upon worksheet data.
✔ Define Excel tables.

With Microsoft Excel 2010, you can visualize and present information effectively by
using charts, graphics, and formatting, but the data is the most important part of any
workbook. By learning to enter data efficiently, you will make fewer data entry errors
and give yourself more time to analyze your data so you can make decisions about
your organization’s performance and direction.

Excel provides a wide variety of tools you can use to enter and manage worksheet data
effectively. For example, you can organize your data into Excel tables, which enables you
to store and analyze your data quickly and efficiently. Also, you can enter a data series
quickly, repeat one or more values, and control how Excel formats cells, columns, and
rows moved from one part of a worksheet to another with a minimum of effort. With
Excel, you can check the spelling of worksheet text, look up alternative words by using
the Thesaurus, and translate words to foreign languages.

In this chapter, you’ll learn how to enter and revise Excel data, move data within a work-
book, find and replace existing data, use proofing and reference tools to enhance your
data, and organize your data by using Excel tables.

Practice Files  Before you can complete the exercises in this chapter, you need to copy
the book’s practice files to your computer. The practice files you’ll use to complete the
exercises in this chapter are in the Chapter02 practice file folder. A complete list of
practice files is provided in “Using the Practice Files” at the beginning of this book.

   29

30    Chapter 2  Working with Data and Excel Tables

Entering and Revising Data

After you create a workbook, you can begin entering data. The simplest way to enter data
is to click a cell and type a value. This method works very well when you’re entering a few
pieces of data, but it is less than ideal when you’re entering long sequences or series of
values. For example, Craig Dewar, the VP of Marketing for Consolidated Messenger, might
want to create a worksheet listing the monthly program savings that large customers can
realize if they sign exclusive delivery contracts with Consolidated Messenger. To record
those numbers, he would need to create a worksheet tracking each customer’s monthly
program savings.

Repeatedly entering the sequence January, February, March, and so on can be handled
by copying and pasting the first occurrence of the sequence, but there’s an easier way to
do it: use AutoFill. With AutoFill, you enter the first element in a recognized series, click
and hold the mouse button down on the fill handle at the lower-right corner of the cell,
and drag the fill handle until the series extends far enough to accommodate your data.
Using a similar tool, FillSeries, you can enter two values in a series and use the fill handle
to extend the series in your worksheet. For example, if you want to create a series starting
at 2 and increasing by 2, you can put 2 in the first cell and 4 in the second cell, select
both cells, and then use the fill handle to extend the series to your desired end value.

Entering and Revising Data   31

You do have some control over how Excel extends the values in a series when you drag
the fill handle. For example, if you drag the fill handle up (or to the left), Excel extends the
series to include previous values. If you type January in a cell and then drag that cell’s fill
handle up (or to the left), Excel places December in the first cell, November in the second
cell, and so on.

Another way to control how Excel extends a data series is by holding down the Ctrl key
while you drag the fill handle. For example, if you select a cell that contains the value
January and then drag the fill handle down, Excel extends the series by placing February
in the next cell, March in the cell after that, and so on. If you hold down the Ctrl key while
you drag the fill handle, however, Excel repeats the value January in each cell you add to
the series.

Tip  Be sure to experiment with how the fill handle extends your series and how pressing the
Ctrl key changes that behavior. Using the fill handle can save you a lot of time entering data.

Other data entry techniques you’ll use in this section are AutoComplete, which detects
when a value you’re entering is similar to previously entered values; Pick From Drop-Down
List, from which you can choose a value from among the existing values in a column; and
Ctrl+Enter, which you can use to enter a value in multiple cells simultaneously.

Troubleshooting  If an AutoComplete suggestion doesn’t appear as you begin typing a cell
value, the option might be turned off. To turn on AutoComplete, click the File tab, and then click
Options. In the Excel Options dialog box, display the Advanced page. In the Editing Options area
of the page, select the Enable AutoComplete For Cell Values check box, and then click OK.

The following table summarizes these data entry techniques.

Method Action
AutoFill
Enter the first value in a recognized series and use the fill handle to extend
FillSeries the series.

AutoComplete Enter the first two values in a series and use the fill handle to extend the
series.
Pick From
Drop-Down Type the first few letters in a cell, and if a similar value exists in the same
List column, Excel suggests the existing value.
Ctrl+Enter
Right-click a cell, and then click Pick From Drop-Down List. A list of existing
values in the cell’s column is displayed. Click the value you want to enter
into the cell.

Select a range of cells, each of which you want to contain the same data,
type the data in the active cell, and press Ctrl+Enter.

32    Chapter 2  Working with Data and Excel Tables

Another handy feature in Excel is the AutoFill Options button that appears next to data
you add to a worksheet by using the fill handle.

Clicking the AutoFill Options button displays a list of actions Excel can take regarding
the cells affected by your fill operation. The options in the list are summarized in the
following table.

Option Action
Copy Cells
This copies the contents of the selected cells to the cells indicated by the
Fill Series fill operation.

Fill Formatting This action fills the cells indicated by the fill operation with the next items
Only in the series.
Fill Without
Formatting This copies the format of the selected cell to the cells indicated by the fill
Fill Days, operation, but does not place any values in the target cells.
Weekdays, and
so on This action fills the cells indicated by the fill operation with the next items
in the series, but ignores any formatting applied to the source cells.

The appearance of this option changes according to the series you extend.
For example, if you extend the values Wed, Thu, and Fri, Excel presents two
options, Fill Days and Fill Weekdays, and you can select which one you
intended. If you do not use a recognized sequence, this option does not
appear.

Entering and Revising Data   33

In this exercise, you’ll enter data by using multiple methods and control how Excel for-
mats an extended data series.
SET UP  You need the Series_start workbook located in your Chapter02 practice file
folder to complete this exercise. Start Excel, open the Series_start workbook, and
save it as Series. Then follow the steps.

1. On the Monthly worksheet, select cell B3, and then drag the fill handle down until

it covers cells B3:B7.
Excel repeats the value Fabrikam in cells B4:B7.

2. Select cell C3, hold down the Ctrl key, and drag the fill handle down until it covers

cells C3:C7.
Excel repeats the value January in cells C4:C7.

3. Select cell B8, and then type the letter F.

Excel displays the characters abrikam in reverse colors.

4. Press Tab to accept the value Fabrikam for the cell.
5. In cell C8, type February.
6. Right-click cell D8, and then click Pick From Drop-down List.

A list of values in column D appears below cell D8.

34    Chapter 2  Working with Data and Excel Tables

7. From the list, click 2Day.

The value 2Day appears in cell D8.

8. In cell E8, type 11802.14, and then press Tab or Enter.

The value $11,802.14 appears in cell E8.

9. Select cell B2, and then drag the fill handle so that it covers cells C2:E2.

Excel replaces the values in cells C2:E2 with the value Customer.

10. Click the AutoFill Options button, and then click Fill Formatting Only.

Excel restores the original values in cells C2:E2 but applies the formatting of cell B2
to those cells.
CLEAN UP  Save the Series workbook, and then close it.

Moving Data Within a Workbook

You can move to a specific cell in lots of ways, but the most direct method is to click the
desired cell. The cell you click will be outlined in black, and its contents, if any, will appear
in the formula bar. When a cell is outlined, it is the active cell, meaning that you can
modify its contents. You use a similar method to select multiple cells (referred to as a
cell range)—just click the first cell in the range, hold down the left mouse button, and
drag the mouse pointer over the remaining cells you want to select. After you select the
cell or cells you want to work with, you can cut, copy, delete, or change the format of

Moving Data Within a Workbook   35

the contents of the cell or cells. For instance, Gregory Weber, the Northwest Distribution
Center Manager for Consolidated Messenger, might want to copy the cells that contain a
set of column labels to a new page that summarizes similar data.

Important  If you select a group of cells, the first cell you click is designated as the active cell.

You’re not limited to selecting cells individually or as part of a range. For example, you
might need to move a column of price data one column to the right to make room
for a column of headings that indicate to which service category (ground, three-day
express, two-day express, overnight, or priority overnight) a set of numbers belongs.
To move an entire column (or entire columns) of data at a time, you click the column’s
header, located at the top of the worksheet. Clicking a column header highlights every
cell in that column and enables you to copy or cut the column and paste it elsewhere
in the workbook. Similarly, clicking a row’s header highlights every cell in that row,
enabling you to copy or cut the row and paste it elsewhere in the workbook.

When you copy a cell, cell range, row, or column, Excel copies the cells’ contents and
formatting. In previous versions of Excel, you would paste the cut or copied items and
then click the Paste Options button to select which aspects of the cut or copied cells to
paste into the target cells. The problem with using the Paste Options button was that
there was no way to tell what your pasted data would look like until you completed the
paste operation. If you didn’t like the way the pasted data looked, you had to click
the Paste Options button again and try another option.

With the new Paste Live Preview capability in Excel, you can see what your pasted data
will look like without forcing you to commit to the paste operation. To preview your
data using Paste Live Preview, cut or copy worksheet data and then, on the Home tab
of the ribbon, in the Clipboard group, click the Paste button’s arrow to display the Paste
gallery, and point to one of the icons. When you do, Excel displays a preview of how
your data will appear if you click that paste option.

36    Chapter 2  Working with Data and Excel Tables

If you position your mouse pointer over one icon in the Paste gallery and then move
it over another icon without clicking, Excel will update the preview to reflect the new
option. Depending on the cells’ contents, two or more of the paste options might lead
to the same result.

Troubleshooting  If pointing to an icon in the Paste gallery doesn’t result in a live preview,
that option might be turned off. To turn Paste Live Preview on, click the File tab and click
Options to display the Excel Options dialog box. Click General, select the Enable Live Preview
check box, and click OK.

After you click an icon to complete the paste operation, Excel displays the Paste Options
button next to the pasted cells. Clicking the Paste Options button displays the Paste
Options palette as well, but pointing to one of those icons doesn’t generate a preview.
If you want to display Paste Live Preview again, you will need to press Ctrl+Z to undo
the paste operation and, if necessary, cut or copy the data again to use the icons in the
Home tab’s Clipboard group.

Troubleshooting  If the Paste Options button doesn’t appear, you can turn the feature on by
clicking the File tab and then clicking Options to display the Excel Options dialog box. In the
Excel Options dialog box, display the Advanced page and then, in the Cut, Copy, And Paste
area, select the Show Paste Options Buttons When Content Is Pasted check box. Click OK to
close the dialog box and save your setting.

After cutting or copying data to the Clipboard, you can access additional paste options
from the Paste gallery and from the Paste Special dialog box, which you display by clicking
Paste Special at the bottom of the Paste gallery.

Moving Data Within a Workbook   37

In the Paste Special dialog box, you can specify the aspect of the Clipboard contents
you want to paste, restricting the pasted data to values, formats, comments, or one of
several other options. You can perform mathematical operations involving the cut
or copied data and the existing data in the cells you paste the content into. You can
transpose data—change rows to columns and columns to rows—when you paste it,
by clicking Transpose in the Paste gallery or by selecting the Transpose check box in
the Paste Special dialog box.

In this exercise, you’ll copy a set of data headers to another worksheet, move a column
of data within a worksheet, and use Paste Live Preview to control the appearance of
copied data.

SET UP  You need the 2010Q1ShipmentsByCategory_start workbook located
in your Chapter02 practice file folder to complete this exercise. Open
the 2010Q1ShipmentsByCategory_start workbook, and save it as
2010Q1ShipmentsByCategory. Then follow the steps.

1. On the Count worksheet, select cells B2:D2.
2. On the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click the Copy button.

Excel copies the contents of cells B2:D2 to the Clipboard.

Keyboard Shortcut  Press Ctrl+C to copy worksheet contents to the Clipboard.

See Also  To see a complete list of keyboard shortcuts, see “Keyboard Shortcuts” at the
end of this book.

3. On the tab bar, click the Sales tab to display that worksheet.
4. Select cell B2.
5. On the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click the Paste button’s arrow, point to

the first icon in the Paste group, and then click the Keep Source Formatting icon
(the final icon in the first row of the Paste gallery.)

Excel displays how the data would look if you pasted the copied values without for-
matting, and then pastes the header values into cells B2:D2, retaining the original
cells’ formatting.

6. Right-click the column header of column I, and then click Cut.

Excel outlines column I with a marquee.

7. Right-click the header of column E, and then, under Paste Options, click Paste.

38    Chapter 2  Working with Data and Excel Tables

Excel pastes the contents of column I into column E.
Keyboard Shortcut  Press Ctrl+V to paste worksheet contents exactly as they appear in
the original cell.

Troubleshooting  The appearance of buttons and groups on the ribbon changes depending
on the width of the program window. For information about changing the appearance of
the ribbon to match our screen images, see “Modifying the Display of the Ribbon” at the
beginning of this book.
CLEAN UP  Save the 2010Q1ShipmentsByCategory workbook, and then close it.

Finding and Replacing Data

Excel worksheets can hold more than one million rows of data, so in large data collections
it’s unlikely that you would have the time to move through a worksheet one row at a time
to locate the data you want to find. You can locate specific data in an Excel worksheet by
using the Find And Replace dialog box, which has two pages (one named Find, the other
named Replace) that you can use to search for cells that contain particular values. Using
the controls on the Find page identifies cells that contain the data you specify; using the
controls on the Replace page, you can substitute one value for another. For example, if one
of Consolidated Messenger’s customers changes its company name, you can change every
instance of the old name to the new name by using the Replace functionality.
When you need more control over the data that you find and replace, for instance, if
you want to find cells in which the entire cell value matches the value you’re searching
for, you can click the Options button to expand the Find And Replace dialog box.

Finding and Replacing Data   39

One way you can use the extra options in the Find And Replace dialog box is to use
a specific format to identify data that requires review. As an example, Consolidated
Messenger VP of Marketing Craig Dewar could make corporate sales plans based on
a projected budget for the next year and mark his trial figures using a specific format.
After the executive board finalizes the numbers, he could use the Find Format capability
in the Find And Replace dialog box to locate the old values and change them by hand.

The following table summarizes the Find And Replace dialog box controls’ functions.

Control Function

Find What field Contains the value you want to find or replace

Find All button Selects every cell that contains the value in the Find What field

Find Next Selects the next cell that contains the value in the Find What field
button

Replace With Contains the value to overwrite the value in the Find What field
field

Replace All Replaces every instance of the value in the Find What field with the value
button in the Replace With field

Replace button Replaces the highlighted occurrence of the value in the Find What field
and highlights the next cell that contains that value

Options button Expands the Find And Replace dialog box to display additional capabilities

Format button Displays the Find Format dialog box, which you can use to specify the
format of values to be found or values to be replaced

Within box Enables you to select whether to search the active worksheet or the entire
workbook

(continued)

40    Chapter 2  Working with Data and Excel Tables

Control Function
Enables you to select whether to search by rows or by columns
Search box Enables you to select whether to search cell formulas or values
When checked, requires that all matches have the same capitalization as
Look In box the text in the Find What field (for example, cat doesn’t match Cat)
Requires that the cell contain exactly the same value as in the Find What
Match Case field (for example, Cat doesn’t match Catherine)
check box
Closes the Find And Replace dialog box
Match Entire
Cell Contents
check box

Close button

To change a value by hand, select the cell, and then either type a new value in the cell or,
in the formula bar, select the value you want to replace and type the new value. You can
also double-click a cell and edit its contents within the cell.

In this exercise, you’ll find a specific value in a worksheet, replace every occurrence of a
company name in a worksheet, and find a cell with a particular formatting.

SET UP  You need the AverageDeliveries_start workbook located in your Chapter02
practice file folder to complete this exercise. Open the AverageDeliveries_start
workbook, and save it as AverageDeliveries. Then follow the steps.

1. If necessary, click the Time Summary sheet tab.

The Time Summary worksheet is displayed.

2. On the Home tab, in the Editing group, click Find & Select, and then click Find.

The Find And Replace dialog box opens with the Find tab displayed.

Keyboard Shortcut  Press Ctrl+F to display the Find tab of the Find And Replace
dialog box.

3. In the Find what field, type 114.
4. Click Find Next.

Finding and Replacing Data   41
Excel highlights cell B16, which contains the value 114.

5. Delete the value in the Find what field, and then click the Options button.

The Find And Replace dialog box expands to display additional search options.

6. Click Format.

The Find Format dialog box opens.

7. Click the Font tab.

The Font page is displayed.

42    Chapter 2  Working with Data and Excel Tables

8. In the Font style list, click Italic.
9. Click OK.

The Find Format dialog box closes.

10. Click Find Next.

Excel highlights cell D25.

11. Click Close.

The Find And Replace dialog box closes.

12. On the tab bar, click the Customer Summary sheet tab.

The Customer Summary worksheet is displayed.

13. On the Home tab, in the Editing group, click Find & Select, and then click

Replace.
The Find And Replace dialog box opens with the Replace tab displayed.
Keyboard Shortcut  Press Ctrl+H to display the Replace tab of the Find And Replace
dialog box.

Correcting and Expanding Upon Worksheet Data   43

14. Click the Format arrow to the right of the Find what field, and then in the

list, click Clear Find Format.
The format displayed next to the Find What field disappears.

15. In the Find what field, type Contoso.
16. In the Replace with field, type Northwind Traders.
17. Click Replace All.

A message box appears, indicating that Excel made three replacements.

18. Click OK to close the message box.
19. Click Close.

The Find And Replace dialog box closes.
CLEAN UP  Save the AverageDeliveries workbook, and then close it.

Correcting and Expanding Upon Worksheet Data

After you enter your data, you should take the time to check and correct it. You do need
to verify visually that each piece of numeric data is correct, but you can make sure that
your worksheet’s text is spelled correctly by using the Excel spelling checker. When the
spelling checker encounters a word it doesn’t recognize, it highlights the word and offers
suggestions representing its best guess of the correct word. You can then edit the word
directly, pick the proper word from the list of suggestions, or have the spelling checker
ignore the misspelling. You can also use the spelling checker to add new words to a cus-
tom dictionary so that Excel will recognize them later, saving you time by not requiring
you to identify the words as correct every time they occur in your worksheets.

44    Chapter 2  Working with Data and Excel Tables

Tip  After you make a change in a workbook, you can usually remove the change as long as
you haven’t closed the workbook. To undo a change, click the Undo button on the Quick
Access Toolbar. If you decide you want to keep a change, you can use the Redo command to
restore it.

If you’re not sure of your word choice, or if you use a word that is almost but not
quite right for your intended meaning, you can check for alternative words by using
the Thesaurus. Several other research tools are also available, such as the Bing search
engine and the Microsoft Encarta dictionary, to which you can refer as you create
your workbooks. To display those tools, on the Review tab, in the Proofing group,
click Research to display the Research task pane.

Correcting and Expanding Upon Worksheet Data   45
Finally, if you want to translate a word from one language to another, you can do so by
selecting the cell that contains the value you want to translate, displaying the Review tab,
and then, in the Language group, clicking Translate. The Research task pane opens (or
changes if it’s already open) and displays controls you can use to select the original and
destination languages.

Important  Excel translates a sentence by using word substitutions, which means that the
translation routine doesn’t always pick the best word for a given context. The translated
sentence might not capture your exact meaning.

46    Chapter 2  Working with Data and Excel Tables

In this exercise, you’ll check a worksheet’s spelling, add two new terms to a dictionary,
search for an alternative word by using the Thesaurus, and translate a word from English
into French.
SET UP  You need the ServiceLevels_start workbook located in your Chapter02 practice
file folder to complete this exercise. Open the ServiceLevels_start workbook, and save
it as ServiceLevels. Then follow the steps.

1. On the Review tab, in the Proofing group, click Spelling.

The Spelling dialog box opens with the first misspelled word in the worksheet
displayed in the Not In Dictionary field.

2. Verify that the word shipped is highlighted in the Suggestions pane, and then

click Change.
Excel corrects the word and displays the next questioned word: withn.

3. Click Change.

Excel corrects the word and displays the next questioned word: TwoDay.

4. Click Add to Dictionary.

Excel adds the word to the dictionary and displays the next questioned word:
ThreeDay.

5. Click Add to Dictionary.

Excel adds the word to the dictionary.

6. If necessary, click Close to close the Spelling dialog box.

The Spelling dialog box closes, and a message box appears, indicating that the
spelling check is complete for the worksheet.

Correcting and Expanding Upon Worksheet Data   47

7. Click OK to close the message box.
8. Click cell B6.
9. On the Review tab, in the Proofing group, click Thesaurus.

The Research task pane opens and displays a list of synonyms for the word
Overnight.

10. On the Review tab, in the Language group, click Translate.

The Research task pane displays the translation tools.

11. If necessary, in the From list, click English (U.S.).
12. In the To list, click French (France).

The Research task pane displays French words that mean overnight.

48    Chapter 2  Working with Data and Excel Tables

CLEAN UP  Save the ServiceLevels workbook, and then close it.

Defining Excel Tables

With Exel, you’ve always been able to manage lists of data effectively, enabling you to
sort your worksheet data based on the values in one or more columns, limit the data
displayed by using criteria (for example, show only those routes with fewer than 100
stops), and create formulas that summarize the values in visible (that is, unfiltered) cells.
In Excel 2007, the Excel product team extended your ability to manage your data by
introducing Excel tables. Excel 2010 offers you the same capability.

Defining Excel Tables   49

To create an Excel table, type a series of column headers in adjacent cells, and then type
a row of data below the headers. Click any header or data cell into which you just typed,
and then, on the Home tab, in the Styles group, click Format As Table. Then, from the
gallery that opens, click the style you want to apply to the table. When the Format As
Table dialog box opens, verify that the cells in the Where Is The Data For Your Table?
field reflect your current selection and that the My Table Has Headers check box is
selected, and then click OK.
Excel can also create an Excel table from an existing cell range as long as the range has
no blank rows or columns within the data and there is no extraneous data in cells imme-
diately below or next to the list. To create the Excel table, click any cell in the range and
then, on the Home tab, in the Styles group, click the Format As Table button and select
a table style. If your existing data has formatting applied to it, that formatting remains
applied to those cells when you create the Excel table. If you want Excel to replace the
existing formatting with the Excel table’s formatting, right-click the table style you want
to apply and then click Apply And Clear Formatting.
When you want to add data to an Excel table, click the rightmost cell in the bottom row
of the Excel table and press the Tab key to create a new row. You can also select a cell in
the row immediately below the last row in the table or a cell in the column immediately
to the right of the table and type a value into the cell. After you enter the value and move
out of the cell, the AutoCorrect Options action button appears. If you didn’t mean to
include the data in the Excel table, you can click Undo Table AutoExpansion to exclude
the cells from the Excel table. If you never want Excel to include adjacent data in an Excel
table again, click Stop Automatically Expanding Tables.
Tip  To stop Table AutoExpansion before it starts, click the File tab, and then click Options. In
the Excel Options dialog box, click Proofing, and then click the AutoCorrect Options button to
display the AutoCorrect dialog box. Click the AutoFormat As You Type tab, clear the Include
New Rows And Columns In Table check box, and then click OK twice.

50    Chapter 2  Working with Data and Excel Tables

You can add rows and columns to an Excel table, or remove them from an Excel table
without deleting the cells’ contents, by dragging the resize handle at the Excel table’s
lower-right corner. If your Excel table’s headers contain a recognizable series of values
(such as Region1, Region2, and Region3), and you drag the resize handle to create a fourth
column, Excel creates the column with the label Region4—the next value in the series.
Excel tables often contain data you can summarize by calculating a sum or average, or
by finding the maximum or minimum value in a column. To summarize one or more
columns of data, you can add a Total row to your Excel table.

When you add the Total row, Excel creates a formula that summarizes the values in the
rightmost Excel table column. To change that summary operation, or to add a summary
operation to any other cell in the Total row, click the cell, click the arrow that appears,
and then click the summary operation you want to apply. Clicking the More Functions
menu item displays the Insert Function dialog box, from which you can select any of the
functions available in Excel.
Much as it does when you create a new worksheet, Excel gives your Excel tables
generic names such as Table1 and Table2. You can change an Excel table’s name to
something easier to recognize by clicking any cell in the table, clicking the Design
contextual tab, and then, in the Properties group, editing the value in the Table Name
box. Changing an Excel table name might not seem important, but it helps make for-
mulas that summarize Excel table data much easier to understand. You should make
a habit of renaming your Excel tables so you can recognize the data they contain.
See Also  For more information about using the Insert Function dialog box and about
referring to tables in formulas, see “Creating Formulas to Calculate Values” in Chapter 3,
“Performing Calculations on Data.”

Defining Excel Tables   51

If for any reason you want to convert your Excel table back to a normal range of cells,
click any cell in the Excel table and then, on the Design contextual tab, in the Tools
group, click Convert To Range. When Excel displays a message box asking if you’re sure
you want to convert the table to a range, click OK.
In this exercise, you’ll create an Excel table from existing data, add data to an Excel
table, add a Total row, change the Total row’s summary operation, and rename the
Excel table.

SET UP  You need the DriverSortTimes_start workbook located in your Chapter02
practice file folder to complete this exercise. Open the DriverSortTimes_start
workbook, and save it as DriverSortTimes. Then follow the steps.

1. Select cell B2.
2. On the Home tab, in the Styles group, click Format as Table, and then select a

table style.
The Format As Table dialog box opens.

3. Verify that the range =$B$2:$C$17 is displayed in the Where is the data for your

table? field and that the My table has headers check box is selected, and then
click OK.
Excel creates an Excel table from your data and displays the Design contextual tab.

4. In cell B18, type D116, press Tab, type 100 in cell C18, and then press Enter.

Excel includes the data in your Excel table.

5. Select a cell in the table. Then on the Design contextual tab, in the Table Style

Options group, select the Total Row check box.
A Total row appears at the bottom of your Excel table.

6. Select cell C19, click the arrow that appears at the right edge of the cell, and then

click Average.
Excel changes the summary operation to Average.

52    Chapter 2  Working with Data and Excel Tables

7. On the Design contextual tab, in the Properties group, type the value SortTimes

in the Table Name field, and then press Enter.
Excel renames your Excel table.

8. On the Quick Access Toolbar, click the Save button to save your work.

CLEAN UP  Close the DriverSortTimes workbook. If you are not continuing directly to
the next chapter, exit Excel.

Key Points   53

Key Points

● You can enter a series of data quickly by typing one or more values in adjacent
cells, selecting the cells, and then dragging the fill handle. To change how dragging
the fill handle extends a data series, hold down the Ctrl key.

● Dragging a fill handle displays the Auto Fill Options button, which you can use to
specify whether to copy the selected cells’ values, extend a recognized series, or
apply the selected cells’ formatting to the new cells.

● With Excel, you can enter data by using a list, AutoComplete, or Ctrl+Enter. You
should experiment with these techniques and use the one that best fits your
circumstances.

● When you copy (or cut) and paste cells, columns, or rows, you can use the new
Paste Live Preview capability to preview how your data will appear before you
commit to the paste operation.

● After you paste cells, rows, or columns into your worksheet, Excel displays the
Paste Options action button. You can use its controls to change which aspects
of the cut or copied elements Excel applies to the pasted elements.

● By using the options in the Paste Special dialog box, you can paste only specific
aspects of cut or copied data, perform mathematical operations, transpose data,
or delete blank cells when pasting.

● You can find and replace data within a worksheet by searching for specific values
or by searching for cells that have a particular format applied.

● Excel provides a variety of powerful proofing and research tools, enabling you to
check your workbook’s spelling, find alternative words by using the Thesaurus, and
translate words between languages.

● With Excel tables, you can organize and summarize your data effectively.

Chapter at a Glance

Name groups
of data, page 56

Create formulas to
calculate values,
page 60

Summarize data
that meets specific
conditions, page 70

Find and correct errors
in calculations, page 74

3 Performing
Calculations
on Data

In this chapter, you will learn how to
✔ Name groups of data.
✔ Create formulas to calculate values.
✔ Summarize data that meets specific conditions.
✔ Find and correct errors in calculations.

Microsoft Excel 2010 workbooks give you a handy place to store and organize your
data, but you can also do a lot more with your data in Excel. One important task you
can perform is to calculate totals for the values in a series of related cells. You can also
use Excel to discover other information about the data you select, such as the maximum
or minimum value in a group of cells. By finding the maximum or minimum value in a
group, you can identify your best salesperson, product categories you might need to
pay more attention to, or suppliers that consistently give you the best deal. Regardless
of your bookkeeping needs, Excel gives you the ability to find the information you want.
And if you make an error, you can find the cause and correct it quickly.

Many times, you can’t access the information you want without referencing more than
one cell, and it’s also often true that you’ll use the data in the same group of cells for
more than one calculation. Excel makes it easy to reference a number of cells at once,
enabling you to define your calculations quickly.

In this chapter, you’ll learn how to streamline references to groups of data on your
worksheets and how to create and correct formulas that summarize an organization’s
business operations.

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56    Chapter 3  Performing Calculations on Data

Practice Files  Before you can complete the exercises in this chapter, you need to copy
the book’s practice files to your computer. The practice files you’ll use to complete the
exercises in this chapter are in the Chapter03 practice file folder. A complete list of
practice files is provided in “Using the Practice Files” at the beginning of this book.

Naming Groups of Data

When you work with large amounts of data, it’s often useful to identify groups of cells
that contain related data. For example, you can create a worksheet in which cells C4:I4
hold the number of packages Consolidated Messenger’s Northeast processing facility
handled from 5:00 P.M. to 12:00 A.M. on the previous day.

Instead of specifying the cells individually every time you want to use the data they contain,
you can define those cells as a range (also called a named range). For example, you can
group the items from the cells described in the preceding paragraph into a range named
NortheastPreviousDay. Whenever you want to use the contents of that range in a calcula-
tion, you can simply use the name of the range instead of specifying each cell individually.
Tip  Yes, you could just name the range Northeast, but if you use the range’s values in a formula
in another worksheet, the more descriptive range name tells you and your colleagues exactly
what data is used in the calculation.
To create a named range, select the cells you want to include in your range, click the
Formulas tab, and then, in the Defined Names group, click Define Name to display the New
Name dialog box. In the New Name dialog box, type a name in the Name field, verify that
the cells you selected appear in the Refers To field, and then click OK. You can also add a
comment about the range in the Comment field and select whether you want to make the
name available for formulas in the entire workbook or just on an individual worksheet.

Naming Groups of Data   57

If the cells you want to define as a named range have labels in a row or column that’s
part of the cell group, you can use those labels as the names of the named ranges. For
example, if your data appears in worksheet cells B4:I12 and the values in column B are
the row labels, you can make each row its own named range. To create a series of named
ranges from a group of cells, select all of the data cells, including the labels, display the
Formulas tab and then, in the Defined Names group, click Create From Selection to dis-
play the Create Names From Selection dialog box. In the Create Names From Selection
dialog box, select the check box that represents the labels’ position in the selected
range, and then click OK.

A final way to create a named range is to select the cells you want in the range, click in
the Name box next to the formula box, and then type the name for the range. You can
display the ranges available in a workbook by clicking the Name arrow.

Name box

58    Chapter 3  Performing Calculations on Data

To manage the named ranges in a workbook, display the Formulas tab, and then, in the
Defined Names group, click Name Manager to display the Name Manager dialog box.

When you click a named range, Excel displays the cells it encompasses in the Refers To
field. Clicking the Edit button displays the Edit Name dialog box, which is a version of the
New Name dialog box, enabling you to change a named range’s definition; for example,
by adding a column. You can also use the controls in the Name Manager dialog box to
delete a named range (the range, not the data) by clicking it, clicking the Delete button,
and then clicking OK in the confirmation dialog box that opens.
Tip  If your workbook contains a lot of named ranges, you can click the Filter button in the
Name Manager dialog box and select a criterion to limit the names displayed in the Name
Manager dialog box.
In this exercise, you’ll create named ranges to streamline references to groups of cells.
SET UP  You need the VehicleMiles_start workbook located in your Chapter03 practice
file folder to complete this exercise. Start Excel, open the VehicleMiles_start workbook,
and save it as VehicleMiles. Then follow the steps.

1. Select cells C4:G4.

You are intentionally leaving cell H4 out of this selection. You will edit the named
range later in this exercise.